Last week I blogged about one day that was unusually filled with fascinating stuff relating to pets and pet rescues. Since then, my good friend Linda, who’d saved a dog in her Las Vegas neighborhood recently, forwarded an e-mail from another friend of hers who’d rescued a dog wandering the freeway near Victorville, California, and was trying to find it a home. This was a lot of rescue stuff compressed into a short time for Linda, who doesn’t currently even have a pet. And, by the way, if you know of someone interested in adopting an approximately 3-year-old shepherd/chow mix, let me know and I’ll give you what contact info I have. Of course, I’m not sure of the status of this rescue, and the pup may already have a new home.
In the meantime, my own little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Mystie made me frantically think of pet rescues for, fortunately, a short time this week when she disappeared while helping my husband Fred with his gardening in our backyard. Turns out the fence between our neighbor’s yard and ours has slats that are close enough together to keep most of our respective dogs where they belong, but Mystie is particularly petite and slipped through. Then she somehow sneaked into an area under a platform where we store our garbage cans--most of which is already enclosed. Fortunately, she started crying when we called her and Fred managed to coax her out. We hadn’t discovered the fence problem before, because Mystie hadn’t, either... till now. Fred is already making plans for putting up more fencing on our side.
And, yes, since I’m blogging about animals today--as usual--I can’t help but bring up the new First Dog, Bo. He’s a purebred Portuguese Water Dog, and I found it interesting that his adoption seemed initially couched in a sort-of rescue since he’d lived with another family for a short while, then was re-homed with the Obamas after a major training session. And as a gift from Ted Kennedy made sense to choose the animal they wanted, no matter which part of the public complained. Poor Vice President Biden, too, wound up being criticized for adopting a purebred dog, a German Shepherd. Controversy? Sure. President Obama had said, during his campaign, that he hoped to adopt a rescue mutt. But there would have been some controversy about any pup the Obamas adopted. If it had been a rescue, its ancestry would possibly be less determinable, so people would complain about the potential harm to the Obama daughter who has allergies. To me, it. In my opinion, it’s a personal decision. But the one thing I’m absolutely against is people who allow their pets to have babies indiscriminately, then abandon them. Or they otherwise mistreat their non-human kids. They’re the ones who really deserve criticism.
What’s your opinion of the Obamas’ adoption of Bo? And have you ever rescued an animal?
--Linda
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7 comments:
One of our current cats was a stray that my husband brought home. One came from a rather charming rescue place in Pennsylvania. They had a tiny endowment and promised to keep all animals they acquired. (I brought home another one from the same place, but they had misdiagnosed her thyroid condition and she didn't make it.) The third came from the SPCA. The community I live in has not one but two feral cat rescue organizations, which I will no doubt check out eventually, since my cats are now 20, 15, and 10 (when did that happen?)
I don't know a lot about Portuguese water dogs, but certainly any dog the Obamas chose would have a long list of criteria to meet: non-allergenic, photogenic, friendly, not too high-strung, good with strangers. So far Bo fits the bill.
All my creatures have been rescues - the greyhounds (we've had 4, 2 still here) and the 3 'Cleveland street dogs' (2 still here) and the cat who was going to be turned outside because she wasn't a cute kitten anymore (sadly passed on), along with the fish who couldn't move to England with my friend (tish has passed on), and the hamster that belonged to a client who was afraid it would bite her kids (after it bit her and was going to be put down-she's still here).
One thing about Beau or Bo - I've always been against naming a dog (cat, horse, any critter you try to train), any name that sounds so much like 'No' because 'No' is used so much and so loudly negatively by almost everyone (heat of the moment style, so to speak). I think he should have gotten a new name to go with his new life.
You both rock, Sheila and Kate! I'm sure your pets think so.
A cat who's 20? You obviously take great care of your family, Sheila.
And that's a good point, Kate. "No, Bo!" could get pretty confusing!
--Linda
I agree there would be some kind of fuss no matter what dog the Obamas got. As long as they give it a good home, it's okay by me.
All of our pets have been rescues of one sort or another. Either someone didn't want them anymore and we took over, or they came from shelters, or had been dumped in the street fortituously in front of our house. The welcome mat is always out.
I'm also the one who takes in lost dogs on our street and gets them back home. There was the Bernise Mountain dog, the blind shepard mix, the poodle with the bad teeth, the wondering Terrier named Trouble and the list goes on and on.
You must have been frantic when Mystie was missing.
That's really great, Betty. If I were a homeless pet, I now have a list of people like you and Sheila and Kate whom I'd want to have find me!
And, yes, I was a mess when we couldn't find Mystie. I'm buying her a new dog tag since we've had to put tape over her existing one. It's metal and reflects sunlight and drives her nuts!
--Linda
Hi,
All that matters to me is that the Obamas give their pet a good home, which I'm sure they will.
As for rescuing, I've always gotten my pets from the pound and just recently my daughter adopted her pet through a pet rescue place.
All this talk about dogs, I might just have to rescue one myself!
You'd make a great pet guardian again, Janie--although the Obamas' situation shows how hard it is to rescue a hypoallergenic dog!
--Linda
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